Former Member

My depression plus my night owl tendencies keep me awake until your time zone starts checking in. I was going to go to sleep when I saw a reaction & reply. I’ll sleep for several hours, check GA and email, then take a nap for a few hours… ;–)

It’s still playing in reruns all those many years into the future? ;–)

I can just imagine that newscast! ;–) “Today, 7.68 million people didn’t kill, rob, vandalize, take drugs, crash their vehicles, have a house fire, weren't involved in an accident, weren't involved in a criminal activity, or have any bad news! 7.68 million of us had a pretty good day today! So here are more beautiful shots of the Bay Area that we love…” ;–)

This was a kind of stream of thought/verbal diarrhea. But different people react to stress in different ways. I would shut down and not be able to do anything! I don’t know where not-Gilligan falls on the Fight/Flight/Freeze scale… ;–)

I guess the ‘inheritance’ that I would have expected would have been the art supplies that Max probably had in his apartment. There are people who just live very frugally – I don’t understand them, but to each his own. There are occasional stories about people with relatively low incomes who manage to save incredibly impressive amounts. The usual story has them childless and leaving large endowments to unsuspecting charities. But if there’s a moral to this story, it’s to be kind to others because you never really know what kind of resources they might have. ;–)

Food Insecurity is real. Many, but not all, areas have Food Banks that offer food to those who cannot otherwise afford it. A related issue are Food Deserts where it is difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh food. (Oddly enough, the Wikipedia Food Desert page includes an outside link that is labeled ‘Food desert in Richmond, CA’ that is actually about Richmond, VA!) My area has a several large supermarkets and one of the large Kirkland-based membership warehouses. There is also a smaller, but very busy supermarket of the size more typical of the ‘70s than the current types that include delis and a Starbucks. There are two large grocery stores and many small stores that specialize in Asian and Hispanic foods (occasionally in the same store). We have fairly good bus service too. Of course there are many more convenience stores that rely on the income from alcohol, tobacco, lottery tickets, and junk food. I remember being shocked to see people buying gallon jugs of milk at a gas station in a similar neighborhood in a nearby city. Few of those stores sell non-processed food. San Francisco has a program encouraging convenience stores to carry fresh produce in neighborhoods without grocery stores – owners have been surprised to find out that they’ve had an increase in profitability with the addition.

You could talk to @Puppilull about publishing on Amazon… ;–) @Emi GS is on Amazon too… ;–) @lomax61 has also found an electronic publisher for his story. ;–)

I’ll let them know how we’ve split them up among us! ;–)

Wow! Your unconscious mind is unbelievable! You’re even clever without even trying! ;–)

I noticed the pattern of Black Forest Cake, Black Kettle Restaurant, Tall Black Man, and Black Mood. Now I’m wondering how often authors include little bits like that the I don’t notice! ;–) And then there were the Green Eyes, the Green Door, and the Green Chair. ;–) I’m surprised no one else mentioned them – or was that part of the Prompt?

Firefighters tend to be too husky for my taste. I prefer the slimmer EMTs*. At least based on the ones I’ve seen around here. ;–) And what did Daniel have to lose if he flirted with Joe outside the store? It’s not like the firefighter was going to beat him up, at worst, he would have scowled back. In the two CA's at least, there are laws prohibiting a violent reaction. ;–) * They were often called to the county’s homeless shelter when I was there. The FD was required to send a truck every single time regardless of the symptoms and they usually just stood around waiting until the EMTs showed up. When the opposite happened, the FD just came inside to confirm they weren’t needed and left right away. (The closest fire station wasn’t too far away.)

Does that make Oli Emotion? ;–)

I don’t know why I never read any of your prompt stories. I certainly have read the other Tim’s prompt story! Now I have some binge reading to do… ;–) Some people are just not meant to be with each other. Like puzzle pieces that look like they fit until you look closer. You can’t finish the puzzle until you separate the misfit pieces. ;–)

Very difficult to read. There was that hint it wasn’t 100% Arnie’s fault. But he was the one in Gary’s bed.

Would Charlie Boone’s name also be an impediment? The early titles are clearly takeoffs of the well-known seasonal Charlie Brown TV Specials. The fact that the specials have kids as their target market might make potential publishers nervous… On the other hand, there have been published physical books that spoofed The Hardy Boys (The Hardly Boys!) and Nancy Drew (Nancy Clue series). ;–)

I have four plus decades that I lived through to consider. (Of course, I wasn’t really aware of the first one and don’t remember it at all because I was too young at the time, so that’s the ‘plus’.) ;–) My favorite decade was the ‘80s. I love the music (New Wave) and the movies (Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, some of the early Star Treks, John Hughes, Spielberg, etc). My first VCR, a $1000 entry-level Sony Betamax SL-5400 in 1980 – later replaced with a Sony SuperBeta HiFi SLHF-400! Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City series was still being serialized in the SF Chronicle and the SF Examiner, although the decade closed out with the unserialized Sure of You, the sixth book in the now-nine book series. ;–) In mid-decade, I started Coming Out and began volunteering with an AIDS education and support organization. I bought my first new car, a 4-door 1984 Mazda 626 sedan. I bought the first of many CD players. I got my first soft contacts for my eyes. I also got braces for my teeth – and got them removed before the decade ended! ;–) I wouldn’t buy my first one until the ‘90s, but the original Macintosh was introduced in 1984 (Apple itself was founded on April 1, 1976). ;–) Unfortunately HIV/AIDS was first identified in the early Eighties – and while there are treatments that work for many (but not all), there is still no cure!

There’s a Norwegian documentary, Ballet Boys (there’s a 75 minute long cinematic version, as well as a 59 minute version for TV), from 2014. It focuses on three young male dancers. No mention on the IMDb page of orientation or homophobia, but it is Norwegian. ;–)

As long as they’re not wearing those wooden urCrocs! ;–) …And I’m still waiting for that photo (of you in your short shorts) you teased us about! ;–)

Wow, it was really fortunate his parents put him in speech therapy so young. He developed the neuropathways necessary for speech when needed, so when he could, he was able to actually speak. The early stage of brain development is critical for learning how to talk, and people who do not get this stimulation at the right time can never learn to speak. That was discovered when nearly 200 years ago when a French doctor tried to teach the first modern "raised by wolves" boy to speak. It did not work, and has never worked with similar children/adults. So! Hurry! The parents did the right thing here, even though the stupid doctors never even bothered to look at the kid's tongue. Silly

…or some body (for Illia?). ;–)

Maybe I should include The Lord of the Rings among the LGBTQ books. Bilbo seemed to be grooming his young nephews. Neither he nor Frodo ever married. And Samwise was much more than the gardener or companion… ;–) The Dwarves preferred the company of other male Dwarves, but that was too threatening to movie viewers, so Kili flirts with Tauriel the (female) Elf (not something in the books). ;–) The Wizards (like Gandalf) were apparently life-long bachelors, but Gandalf was often shown surrounded by large groups of males. ;–) In fact the entire series is very male-centric! ;–)

I’ve seen lots of Dutch movies besides Yes Nurse! No Nurse! A Frameline42, I saw Just Friends (Gewoon Vrienden). I’ve seen several Bavo Defurne shorts (including Campfire [Kampvuur]) and his first feature, North Sea Texas (Noordzee, Texas). And then there’s Spetters… ;–)

Poor Mike. He travels around space with his best companion, Pacha. But the closest thing to a girlfriend he has is Illia. That looks like a classic love-hate relationship there! ;–)

Since Max and Pacha were able to create Gort for Billy & Will, they should be able to do something similar for Murcha! The question is whether that form will be humanoid or spaceship? I wonder what Murcha would prefer? ;–)

And this time I found two sets of lines that I really enjoyed! Which begs the question, is Skwish the essential factor that makes an Elf? ;–)